What does "self-announcement" mean in the nominating process?

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Quick Answer

Self-announcement occurs when a person who wants to run for office announces his candidacy. It is the oldest form of nomination and is used currently in small towns or by people who are unhappy with their political party's choice of candidate. For example, a democrat who is unhappy with the party's choice of a presidential candidate could self-announce that he is running for president as an independent.

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There are typically five methods of nomination in a political contest in the United States: self-announcement, nomination process, caucus, convention, direct primary and petition. Which method is used depends upon the type of election (federal, state, local) and what office the election is for. For example, caucuses were once used commonly for state offices, but their use is now limited primarily to the New England region. A caucus occurs when a group of like-minded people meet and vote among themselves for whom they decide to support as a whole in an upcoming election, according to Quizlet. In U.S. presidential elections, the major political parties use the direct primary method (an intra-party election) to select a candidate to run for their party. Individuals outside of the major parties could self-announce that they are running for president, though simply self-announcing would usually not garner much media attention and would not in and of itself get a candidate's name on the ballot.